KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court Thursday for robbing Bank Midwest with a pellet gun.

Casey M. Widman, 60, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 16 years in federal prison without parole.

Widman was sentenced as a career offender due to his prior criminal convictions. Widman has approximately 92 criminal convictions, according to court documents. This is Widman’s third conviction for bank robbery, his 15th felony conviction and his seventh conviction for a crime of violence. Widman also has approximately 77 misdemeanor convictions.

On Oct. 7, 2014, Widman pleaded guilty to stealing $838 from Bank Midwest.

According to court documents, Widman entered Bank Midwest, 6249 Brookside, Kansas City, at about 1:45 p.m. on Dec. 30, 2013. Widman approached one of the tellers, pulled out a black pistol (a pellet gun) and placed it on the counter in front of the teller. Widman said he wanted to make a withdrawal in “all fifties and hundreds.” When the teller placed the money on the counter, he became agitated and told her that he wanted more money. She placed more money on the counter, and Widman took the cash and fled from the bank.

A witness told police officers that he saw a blue Ford Taurus parked near the bank for about 15 minutes. The vehicle left the bank immediately after the robbery occurred. An officer saw a vehicle that matched that description and followed it. When the driver stopped at a gas station, Widman was taken into custody.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two members of a drug-trafficking organization that distributed at least 10 kilograms of methamphetamine in the Independence, Mo., and Kansas City, Mo., area have been sentenced in federal court.

Alberto Manuel Piggott, 32, and Diamond Lynell Cooper, 34, both of Kansas City, Mo., were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner. Piggott was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Cooper was sentenced on Thursday, April 16, 2015, to 16 years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

The court also ordered Piggott and Cooper to forfeit $700,000 to the government for which they are jointly and severally liable, which represents the proceeds of drug-trafficking (based on a conservative street price of $2,000 per ounce and distribution of at least 10 kilograms of methamphetamine through the overall conspiracy).

On Sept. 25, 2014, Piggott pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, participating in a money-laundering conspiracy, possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On Oct. 30, 2015, Cooper pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracies, and to aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Piggott admitted that, from 2009 to 2012, he and co-defendant Bonnie Cortez Hernandez, 39, of Kansas City, Mo., supplied the other conspirators with methamphetamine for further distribution. From May 5, 2010, to July 19, 2011, Piggott was found in possession of methamphetamine totaling over 50 grams and three weapons: May 5, 2010, vehicle stop and seizure of .20-gauge shotgun and 1.73 grams of methamphetamine; Dec. 22, 2010, vehicle stop and seizure of 21.23 grams of methamphetamine; Jan. 31, 2011, vehicle stop and seizure of 14 grams of methamphetamine; Feb. 24, 2011, vehicle stop and seizure of 19 grams of methamphetamine; April 4, 2011, vehicle stop and seizure of a shotgun and a 9mm Beretta handgun; and July 19, 2011, a stolen Taurus TCP 380 with six rounds.

Cooper admitted that he sold 1.4 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant on Aug. 23, 2011. On Sept. 13, 2011, a vehicle stop of Hernandez and Cooper was conducted and a stolen .45-caliber Sig Sauer and 37.69 grams of methamphetamine were seized. On Oct. 18, 2011, a vehicle stop of Cooper was conducted and a consent search of Hernandez’s residence was conducted and they resulted in the seizure of a 9mm Sky Industries pistol and 4.2 grams of methamphetamine. On Dec. 7, 2011, another vehicle stop of Cooper resulted in the seizure of 39.23 grams of methamphetamine.

Co-defendants Hernandez, Juliann Marie Savona, 30, and William Gregory Smith, 33, all of Kansas City, Mo., have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

Co-defendant Brittany Michelle Dugger, 26, of Independence, Mo., was sentenced on March 18, 2015, to 11 years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

A man has been sentenced in federal court to 18-years behind bars in connection with the robbery of a Burgar King in Raytown.

Christopher L. Rice, 26, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole; the court sentenced Rice to 16 years and four months on the robbery conviction, revoked Rice’s supervised release on a prior bank robbery conviction and sentenced him to a consecutive prison term of two years. Rice was sentenced as a career offender due to his three prior convictions in state court for robbery and the federal conviction for bank robbery.

On Dec. 18, 2014, Rice pleaded guilty to the robbery of a Burger King restaurant in Raytown, Mo. According to court documents, Rice carjacked a Toyota Camry at gunpoint earlier that day and drove the stolen vehicle to Burger King. Rice approached the cashier, told her that he had a gun and ordered her to open the register. The cashier gave Rice $177 from the register and he left the restaurant.

A Raytown police detective, listening to reports of the armed robbery on his radio, saw a vehicle matching the description of the car used in the robbery and followed it until Rice parked in the driveway of a residence. Rice got out of the car and began walking away. The detective noticed that Rice had numerous tattoos, which were part of the description of the suspect in the Burger King robbery, so he told Rice to stop. During their conversation, Rice began to pull away and the detective felt what could be a gun under his clothes. The detective pulled his weapon and ordered Rice to get on the ground.

Rice instead began to pull a loaded Taurus .40-caliber pistol out of his waistband and the detective began shooting at Rice. Rice began running away, still carrying the pistol. The detective pursued Rice and saw him fall on the street. As he approached Rice, the detective told him to drop his gun, and Rice tossed it to one side. Rice was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital with three gunshot wounds.

(Missourinet) – A television and movie star’s look into his father’s family history has brought him to eastern Missouri’s Warren County.

Bill Paxton has been in numerous Hollywood movies including Aliens and Apollo 13, in recent years starred the HBO series Big Love, and appears as Sam Houston in the upcoming television mini-series Texas Rising. He will be featured on TLC’s Who Do You Think You Are? Sunday night.

Paxton discovers his great-great-great-great-grandfather Benjamin Sharp fought in a historic battle during the Revolutionary War at age 14. Sharp later worked in civil service, helping elect senators, laying out districts, and building new communities in Virginia before spending the remainder of his life in Missouri.

Executive Producer Dan Bucatinsky said Paxton was disturbed to find out his ancestor owned slaves.

“There’s sort of an inevitability of it and there’s also having to come to terms with our own connection to ancestors who may have in fact owned slaves, but he has a very emotional and intelligent way of contextualizing that,” said Bucatinsky. “There’s a record that he discovers in Missouri at the end of his life that makes him realize that even for the time that he was living, Benjamin Sharp was someone who thought about, cared about, and had empathy for his slaves.”

Paxton met with the director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, Gary Kramer, to go over Sharp’s original will to find out what happened to the slaves after his death. Kramer also reveals that Sharp’s grave is nearby on land Sharp once owned.

Research Manager Aleta Rozanski said the film crew was able to find the grave site of Paxton’s ancestor deep in the woods of Warren County.

“We we’re lucky that the current property owners were able to help us trek back there on our scout,” said Rozanski. “So, we were able to locate the grave before we shot and decided it would be a really incredibly, powerfully, moving location for Bill to visit at the very end.”

Click here for a preview of Sunday’s episode featuring Bill Paxton.